The Best Christmas Gifts

A friend once told me the greatest gift you can give is be a good gift receiver. This is so true. If you give someone a gift and they light up or especially if they cry (tears of joy) it makes you feel good. This does not take a lot of money.

My favorite gift giving memory came right after I began Grad School. I was poor and the little money I did have for gifts wouldn’t be able to get much. My Mom is the hardest person to shop for. My brothers decided that they would go in together to purchase her a new TV for her bedroom. I apparently didn’t have enough money to contribute to this gift so I was on my own. I found out that the teddy bear cookie jar she had since I was a child recently had the head broken by my dad by accident. What’s a teddy bear cookie jar without a head? There was no special connection to the cookie jar and it was not particularly ornate. So I decided I’d get her a new cookie jar. I searched the internet for the perfect one. One I knew my mom would like but that would not break my bank. I thought something Disney, maybe Mickey Mouse or Winney the Pooh. How about the Pillsbury Dough Boy? Then I found it! It was perfect and it was only $10 after shipping. This cookie jar was the exact same Teddy Bear she had gotten all those years ago. I couldn’t have told you who made it or where it was originally purchased but I found it on Ebay. Sure she liked the new flat screen HD TV to replace her small tube TV but when she opened the teddy bear cookie jar her eyes welled up. She couldn’t believe it. She doesn’t care if I spent $1 or $1,000 on it. She later pulled me aside and this is what she said to me “Jake you know all I want for Christmas is to see my boys and all of the presents were nice but that cookie jar…I mean how did you find it…it was special….thank you.” All I said to her was “Santa can find anything.”

That year I had fun giving gifts. I had very little money and I stressed out a little but everyone liked what I gave them. Some were funny gifts, some were needs but all were from the heart. Some people get wrapped up in having the biggest tree or the most lights or the most gifts but when you really boil it all down, it’s about sharing love.